Her Parents And Sister Are Trying To Guilt-Trip Her Out Of Going On A Trip Abroad Because She Won’t Be Home To Babysit Her Niece On The Weekends
This 27-year-old woman used to work remotely. And given the flexibility of her job, she was really interested in traveling during her free time.
So, she started planning a long trip abroad a while ago. More recently, though, she was laid off from her job– but the entire trip was already planned and paid for. She also had a ton of money saved up already and figured she would still go anyway.
Her family was not exactly on board with her going overseas alone, though. This meant that she spent months trying to convince her parents, siblings, and grandparents that everything was going to be fine.
She reassured them that she was only traveling to safe locations and that she had plenty of money to get her through the trip.
“I finally had them in a good spot, and I leave in two weeks,” she said.
All of a sudden, though, her plans drastically changed. Apparently, she often cares for her 2-year-old niece at least once a week while her sister and brother-in-law go out on the weekends.
Her sister, who is 32, goes to the office three days a week and works from home the other two days. Her brother-in-law, who is 39, also works full-time from home. But, since he is in customer service, he is required to stay by his computer at all times.
Then, on the weekends, her sister and brother-in-law get to spend time together. Sometimes they go out to dinner, and other times they go to events like hockey games. Either way, she normally cares for her niece during those outings.
And according to her, the arrangement usually worked out. She would get to keep her child-free Friday and Saturday evenings while only babysitting on Sundays– when the couple most frequently did their own thing.
Yuri A/peopleimages.com – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only, not the actual person
Once she goes abroad, though, she obviously will not be able to babysit her niece anymore.
Now, she knew that was a given. But one day, her sister apparently made a joke about her not being able to babysit anymore.
Then, her parents began asking her a ton of questions about her travels and suddenly asked what she was going to do about her niece.
The question caught her off guard, and honestly, she was just confused. So, she asked her parents to elaborate, and they kind of guilt-tripped her.
“Apparently, two years old is an important time in a child’s life, and they said my niece wouldn’t remember me when I got home,” she explained.
“They want me to shorten my non-refundable trip and come home earlier, so I don’t miss out on any milestones.”
Quite frankly, though, she wound up telling her parents that simply was not possible. She also made it clear that her decision was final.
Her parents did not stop, though, and just continued trying to make her feel guilty. They even got her grandparents involved in the situation.
So now, the only person supporting her decision to travel is her 30-year-old brother, who never really sees her niece except for on special occasions.
Plus, on top of guilting her about her niece, her parents have also begun bringing up her layoff and financial security.
While she did not want to brag, though, she did detail how she is pretty well set for a 27-year-old. First of all, she has no loans, no current apartment, and has paid off all other “big things.” And in her savings account, she has enough money to live off of for a year without having to work.
So, she knows that she can travel for a while and still afford everything she wants. Since her parents keep bringing up her finances and attempting to guilt-trip her into staying, though, she has started to get nervous.
Just yesterday, the entire situation came to a head, too. Apparently, her sister called her out for being a jerk in front of her entire family since she would no longer be able to babysit. Her sister also asked what they were supposed to do on the weekends.
At that point, though, she had enough and wound up screaming at her sister to “finally hire a babysitter.”
But unfortunately, her parents did not really agree with her perspective. Instead, they took her sister’s side and claimed that she needed to help out more.
So, she ultimately yelled at everyone and told them it was not her responsibility to parent her niece.
“They could live for a few weeks without their free babysitter,” she vented.
After that, she just left. And later, she heard from her brother that her parents and sister were still really angry with her and disagreed with her decision to go on the trip.
So, even though she believes she made the right decision, she has still been left wondering whether choosing to go on her trip instead of staying home to babysit her niece makes her a jerk or not.
Do you think she should feel bad about going away on a trip she saved up for and paid off already? Is it her responsibility to care for her niece whenever her sister wants it? Why do you think her brother is the only person who sees the big picture? If you were in her shoes, would you still go on the trip?
You can read the original post on Reddit here.
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